Note: All pictures that follow are
"clickable". Clicking on them will show you an enlargement!
A lil' history ... This project involves the designing and building of a
basic in-flight recorder that is capable of recording R/C performance parameters
(such as servo glitches), engine temperature, engine RPM and battery voltage.
It is based upon a cheap Basic-Stamp SX processor designed on a SIMM card as
shown in the photo to the left. An A-to-D was incorporated on the SIMM
card, including a piezo buzzer and various pull up/down resistors.
...more to come soon...
Design Criteria Summary:
1) Design must be small and light such to be carried
by a 40-size glow R/C aircraft.
2) Design should be based around a programmable controller easily adaptable by
the builder/user
3) Design should allow for recording of various flight parameters, with a min
record rate of 1 sample per second (max of 20 minute record time, i.e. 1200
samples)
4) Design should allow the user to plug in a laptop/computer to download and
analyze data (use MS Excel import?)
Parts & Tools List
...
1)
Parallax Basic Stamp SX programmable microprocessor
2) 8-bit A-to-D converter (0-255 resolution is ok for this app.... you could
always use a 10-12 bit A/D if need be)
3) Piezo buzzer
4) Various resistors (10K-100K should suffice)
5) Servo hookup wire (female end with 12"+ of wire)
6) Dallas DS1620 temperature IC (with custom aluminum tab for connection to
engine)
7) Hall effect sensor (with custom aluminum bracket) and rare earth magnet (for
RPM measurement)
09/06/2008
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